Review by Dale Jr.
Photos by Micah Gummel
Show Photos HERE
The Motor City Madman made his return to the Granite State this past Sunday for what would be an instant classic to all those that attended. The place was packed and they were amped when Ted took the stage. With Ted is the band that he’s had for some time now; former drummer from Dokken, “Wild” Mick Brown, and bassist Greg Smith, who has played with some great rock acts as well. I had previously seen Ted twice before, but not with singer and guitarist, Derek St. Holmes, who was on quite a few of those early Nugent albums, including the great self-titled album. I’ll be touching on what I think St. Holmes does for the current band a bit later.
The lights went out and the band took the stage, and then lights directly behind Ted came on, with the fog machine working overtime, and shit was on. The band opened with Gonzo, which originally debuted on Ted’s “Double Live Gonzo!”. After that, we were treated to some of that St. Holmes magic that appeared on the first album with “Just What The Doctor Ordered”. That song, like many others that were performed and appear on the albums, are so great because we are treated to Ted’s masterful brand of in your face rock and Derek’s great vocals.
The band rolled on with “Wango Tango” which features probably the best harmonies that you will find in a Ted Nugent song, and reminds me a lot of something that Sam & Dave might play. After that was a song that might be familiar to people who watch “The Walking Dead” as it made an appearance on an episode this season, but every Ted fan should know; “Turn It Up”. “Turn It Up” was one of the few songs that St. Holmes sang on the “Free-For-All” album, and I was pretty damn excited to hear it, because I never thought that I would hear it be played live, especially with St. Holmes singing it.
After “Turn It Up”, it was the self-titled track from the “Free-For-All” album, and it’s a song that I’ve been known to perform at karaoke when I’ve had a bit too much to drink. I am happy to report that Ted sang it better than I ever could. Following “Free-For-All” was “Stormtroopin'”, which was the second track on the “Ted Nugent” album. Next was Ted’s ultimate love song, and he made sure that we knew that it was a love song, “Wang Dang Sweet Poontang”.
Ted and his mates then brought us back to the blues with his cover of “I Can’t Quit You Baby”, a song that was written by blues legend Willie Dixon, and originally performed by Otis Rush, and had been famously covered by Led Zeppelin on their “Coda” album. It was then followed up by “Live It Up”, a track that came off of the “Cat Scratch Fever” album.
Next was a song that I was really excited to hear, and that was “Queen of the Forest”; a song that first appeared on the self-titled album, and apparently hasn’t been performed live by Ted and his band since 1975. The song once again featured classic St. Holmes vocals. Following “Queen of the Forest” was Ted’s tribute to the famous bow hunting pioneer, bow manufacturer, and tv host with the song “Fred Bear”. Following “Fred Bear” was the song that St. Holmes not only played on and sand, but also wrote and arraigned, and that’s the amazing song “Hey Baby”.
The home stretch of the show began as Ted played, by his words, “the number one guitar lick in the world” with “Cat Scratch Fever” and he then followed it up with is probably his most famous song, and a song that still gets heavy radio play, the classic “Stranglehold”. The band left the stage with an uproar of applause, and then came out to do the encore, “Great White Buffalo”.
As I have previously stated, I had seen Ted twice before, and both were amazing shows, but this one really blew the other two away, and I can account most of that to having Derek St. Holmes back in the fold. Not only is it great to have Derek sing all of the songs that he originally sang on the album, be we are also blessed to be able to hear tracks like “Queen of the Forest” and “Turn It Up”, which are songs that I never had heard performed live before, but his rhythm guitar playing fills out the sound so much, and allows Ted to play licks that he couldn’t do previously because Ted was forced to keep the rhythm when he was the only guitar. The perfect example of the latter is when Ted plays all the leads in the opening of “Cat Scratch Fever”. In previous years that I saw him, he was unable to play those because of the necessity of having to keep the rhythm.
This show was a classic for me, with it being loud, balls to the wall rock and all four of those guys being great musicians, and Ted himself being a guitar hero. When Uncle Ted and the gang comes around again, be sure to not miss them, because I know that I won’t.
Ted Nugent -Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom, Hampton Beach, NH
